Rayhan Thomas has represented India in International Amateur events in the past
In a bizarre twist rarely seen in professional golf, a clerical error by the PGA Tour has cost 25-year-old Dubai-born Indian Rayhan Thomas a vital start at this week’s US$1 million Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.
Thomas, an Oklahoma State University graduate ranked 107th on the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT), was first alternate in Nebraska and spent all of Thursday on the range waiting for a withdrawal that never came. Unbeknownst to him, South African MJ Daffue — currently tied for fourth — should never have been in the field.
Daffue had exhausted his medical exemption starts without retaining his PGA Tour card after the ISCO Championship. By rule, he should have been removed from the “PGA Tour non-exempt” category on the KFT priority list, but an oversight kept him eligible. That bumped Thomas out; had the list been correct, Daffue would have been the fourth alternate, and Thomas would have played.
A clerical error by the PGA Tour has lead to something that I have never heard of.
MJ Daffue is currently T4, but he is not supposed to be in the field. And Rayhan Thomas, who sat on the range all day Thursday as the first alternate, before not getting in, should be in the…
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) August 8, 2025
The missed start is a heavy blow for Thomas, who earned his 2025 playing rights by finishing T26 at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Final Stage, guaranteeing at least 12 starts. In 20 events this season, his best result is a tied-seventh in the Bahamas. Under the tour’s new system, the top 20 on the KFT Rankings at season’s end earn PGA Tour cards — making every start crucial.
With just one regular-season event left, the PGA Tour has admitted fault and will let Daffue finish, while working with Thomas to find a solution. For Thomas, the hope of a PGA Tour future now rests on a razor’s edge.
Photo – Asian Tour